In some types of communication system such as systems for providing Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) services, communication service quality degrades as distance from access communication equipment increases. One possible approach to alleviate this type of problem is to deploy access equipment closer to customers. However, this approach tends to be cost prohibitive in terms of both initial equipment costs and continuing management and maintenance costs.
Distributed system architectures represent a more feasible alternative for moving access functionality toward customer sites. Several distributed system solutions are currently available.
Some communication equipment vendors have launched DSL access products that are primarily scaled down versions of Central Office (CO)-based systems. In these systems, the CO is not actually partitioned. Rather, distributed units are scaled down versions of CO equipment.
According to these solutions, substantial functionality is duplicated instead of being distributed. Each distributed remote unit retains much of the cost, size and power requirements of CO equipment. This increases the cost of an overall system.
A comparable solution in DSL systems is called “loop extension”. In this case, the DSL line itself is repeated or carried via some other medium and replicated at a remote location. However, this solution requires not only typical CO equipment, but also repeater equipment, at an overall increase in cost.
Embodiments of the invention provide further improved distributed communication equipment architectures and related techniques, with simpler and less costly distributed components.